Stressed about Trump’s return? You’re not alone. Therapists are inundated with people worried about Trump 2.0
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As Donald Trump returns to the White House, Richard Hall speaks to therapists about how their (mostly liberal) clients are preparing for the chaos of a second term. Therapist Paula Carino describes Donald Trump’s presence in the lives of her clients as “an ambient sinister fuzz.”.
![[Paula Carino, a Brooklyn-based therapist, says many of her clients are experiencing burnout and compassion fatigue.]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/16/22/paula-carino-headshot.jpg)
The returning president’s unique ability to dominate the airwaves and invade the headspace of the country has been a daily torment to his detractors for years, whether through his screaming tweets, rambling press conferences or occasional threats to democracy. And as he returns to the White House for his second term, therapists across the country are hearing about it.
![[Jack Drescher, MD, is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in private practice in New York City.]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/17/15/DrescherHeadshot.jpg)
“He’s very triggering for people,” Carino, who is based in Brooklyn, tells The Independent. “Just his personality, his unpredictability, too. The fact that you never know what he’s gonna say and you never know what he’s gonna do. He creates the sense of lack of safety, and safety is so important in mental health.”.
![[Elizabeth Hinkle is a therapist licensed in Kansas, Virginia and Washington State.]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/17/16/EHH-Photo.jpg)
Carino is noticing a rise in anxiety among her clients, who are often millennial women, ahead of Trump’s return — something that goes beyond the usual political worry. “There’s a lot of activist burnout and compassion fatigue, people who are just like, ‘oh my god, I was so fired up back in 2016 and I don’t know if I have it in me anymore,” she says.
Trump’s return is of particular concern for communities on the receiving end of his most extreme policies, says Dr Jack Drescher, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, who specializes in gender and LGBTQ issues. Many of his clients are increasingly anxious about anti-trans legislation being pushed by Republicans and the threat to gay marriage.
